Trade deal
The U.S. Trade Representative’s office announced that tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods would increase to 25 percent from 10 percent at 12:01 a.m. (0401) GMT on Friday.
Spread-betters expect Frankfurt’s DAX and Paris’s CAC open up half a percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, and see London’s FTSE basically flat.
The talks were extended into an unscheduled third day, showing both sides were “serious”, China’s Foreign Ministry said.
The customs authority said on Tuesday that custom duties on EU-imported cars have been waived in accordance with an approved schedule of Egypt-EU partnership agreement.
The pound surged as fears of a ‘hard Brexit’ eased after Michel Barnier signalled an accommodative stance towards London in ongoing talks.
The U.S. currency has fallen for three consecutive weeks despite the United States embarking on greater monetary tightening than elsewhere.
“These concessions are really going to be important for workers in Canada and the United States,” she told reporters after meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
Against a basket of its rivals, the dollar hit its lowest level since Aug. 2 at 94.68 in early Asian trades before consolidating its losses.
Auto stocks soared and the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rallied to record highs on the expectation that Canada would sign onto the deal and ease the economic uncertainty caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to ditch the 1994 accord.
Guajardo said in an interview on Mexican radio that Mexico’s preference was for Canada to remain in the three-nation pact, but if it opted out some parts of Monday’s deal would have to be redesigned such as auto content rules.
The 24-year-old NAFTA is a trilateral deal between the United States, Canada and Mexico that underpins $1.2 trillion in North American Trade.
Britain has pushed a strong message to Chinese companies that it is fully open for business as it prepares to leave the European Union next year.
Germany is seeking to end a dispute between the United States and the European Union over President Donald Trump’s decision to impose high tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
Representatives for the White House did not respond to a request for more information about the president’s statement.
The European Union and Mexico have reached a preliminary agreement on a new free trade deal, the two parties said in a joint statement on Saturday.
